Rev. Al Sharpton’s Jobs For Justice Rally!

NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK (NAN), ALONG WITH LABOR & CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS TO ATTACK JOBLESSNESS & VOTER ID LAWS THAT ARE THREATENING PEOPLE’S VOTER RIGHTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY ON DECEMBER 9TH AS PART OF 25-CITY RALLY FOR JOBS & JUSTICE

NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK & REV. AL SHARPTON, ALONG WITH LABOR LEADERS & COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS TO LEAD RALLIES IN OVER 25 CITIES ON DECEMBER 9TH FOR JOBS AND JUSTICE ——

Rev. Al Sharpton and National Action Network (NAN), along with partners in labor, civil rights, and clergy from across the country, will hold a rally in over 25-cities on December 9th, 2011 as a follow-up to the mass march for jobs and justice that NAN held October 15, 2011. The December 9th rallies will continue to focus on growing economic disparity, lack of employment, and equality issues surrounding our current economic state. The 25-city rallies will call attention to key issues that have not yet been remedied and will call attention to the disproportionate layoffs of Blacks, Latinos and other groups, and the growing wealth gap.The rallies will be held in cities that are most impacted by joblessness and attacks on workers rights.

In recent years, too many American families have lost economic ground. Over the decade ending in 2009, median family income fell by $3,800. And the gap between the wealthiest Americans and those with the least is growing every day, making it tougher to enter into the middle class. With African American unemployment at an unacceptable 15%, this is a clear sign that we need action-inaction is not an option. Black layoffs have only skyrocketed as the public sector – heavily comprised of a Black workforce – continues to slash jobs. And as a result, not only has Black wealth diminished, but so too has the existence of much of this nation’s Black middle class itself. Black, White or Brown – that is a startling reality that should have all of us deeply concerned.

According to a study released earlier this year by the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Blacks were 30% more likely than other workers to be employed in the public sector. And while the private sector has added 1.6 million jobs as reported in a recent New York Times piece, public employment has seen massive layoffs across the board. Whether its teachers, firefighters, police officers, or any other form of municipal work, the public sector has been under attack from Wisconsin to NJ and everywhere in between. From losing their bargaining rights to bearing the brunt of city and state budget cuts, public service employees are watching their entire life savings disappear. And because about 1 in 5 Blacks work in civil service, we are disproportionately suffering yet again during these tough times.

In the U.S. postal service alone, about 25% of employees are Black. It is precisely because of work in this industry and in other government entities that we were finally able to climb the economic and societal ladder, and eventually begin to achieve the proverbial American dream of home ownership. An entire Black middle class emerged via civil service jobs, and we are now tragically close to witnessing the greatest stumbling block to progress that will literally set us back decades. But we can – and we must – do something to halt this injustice that so clearly threatens our immediate future.